The new Black Stars: Why Otto Addo shouldn't build his team around Mohammed Kudus

The Black Stars are in transition and the appointment of Otto Addo for a long term signifies the Ghana Football Association's vision of building a formidable side that could restore the country's glory days.

In this regard, there have been suggestions from some former Black Stars players who have urged Otto Addo to make West Ham United Star, Mohammed Kudus, the centre of his project. In their words, 'build the team around Kudus'.

According to Ghana's all-time top scorer, Asamoah Gyan, Ghana football is in the 'Kudus era' and thus it is only right to make the Black Stars revolve around him.

"When I was coming up, we had Michael Essien, Stephen Appiah, Sulley Muntari and at a point it got to me. Players have come and gone. We had the Abedi Pele era, Stephen Appiah era, Michael Essien era and the Asamoah Gyan era and now it looks like it's Kudus' era," he told Asempa FM.

"I mean he is the only Ghanaian player performing in Europe. And not just in any league, but in the Premier League," he added.

Gyan's statement received the backing from former Black Stars captain Charles Kwablah Akonnor, who believes Kudus is the next big thing, therefore, it would make 'more sense to centre the Black Stars' around him.

"The earlier, of course, the better. Yes, our captain and his brother have performed admirably for the team, but given the current trend, it makes more sense to centre the Black Stars around Mohammed Kudus. He (Kudus) has shown everyone his ability to be the next big thing, it makes sense for us to get started as soon as possible," Akonnor stated.

Without a doubt, Mohammed Kudus is the biggest talent in the Black Stars at the moment. He is already seen as the face of the team and it was evident at the 2023 African Cup of Nations where the team struggled without him.

However, in team building, getting a solid spine goes a long way than having a team revolve around one player.

In this article, GhanaWeb sought to explain how Otto Addo's project would be a success with a proper spine for his team instead of doing a 'the Kudus' project.

Modern-day football has evolved to the point where teams with a solid spine turn to chalk more success than teams that revolve around one exceptional talent.

The most significant benefit of a good spine is long-term success. Examples are the Barcelona team from 2009 to 2012, the Real Marid squad from 2014 to 2018, the Liverpool squad from 2017 to 2020, Argentina's squad from 2021 to date, the AC Milan squad from 2002 to 2007, the Spain squad from 2009 to 2013 and a host of others.

What does the spine of a team mean?

A spine of a team in football terms means having a fairly reliable goalkeeper, one sturdy defender, an industrious midfielder(s), and a goal-poaching attacker.

It is a collection of a few outstanding or reliable players from goalkeeper to striker forming a framework for a team like the spinal cord as seen in the human skeleton.

These players are often experienced, skilful, and play regularly.

2006 to 2010 Black Stars

Looking down memory lane, Black Stars' success between 2006 and 2010 was due to a strong spine.

Ghana, throughout that period, was known to be a compact side that had a fluid attack spearheaded by a proven scorer.

The main men in that era were Richard Kingson, John Mensah, Sulley Muntari, Stephen Appiah, John Paintsil, Hans Adu-Sapei, Michael Essien, and Asamoah Gyan.

Although players like Muntari, Essien, and Appiah were the superstars of the team, the Black Stars did not centre around just them but rather coaches within that era fixed in other talents to build the foundation, which later yielded the successes Ghana chalked.

Such should be the template for Otto Addo to build the next generation of the Black Stars.

At the moment, Ghana is one of the very few African countries with talented young players gaining global recognition in football.

Fatawu Issahaku, Ernest Nuamah, Antoine Semenyo, Kamaldeen Sulemana, Joseph Paintsil, Salis Samed, Tariq Lamptey, Abdul Mumin, Sailu Mohammed, Ibrahim Osman, and Kudus Mohammed who is the bigger fish amongst them.

Hence, Otto Addo has a big pool of talents to build a rock-solid foundation instead of making everything tick around Kudus.

Looking at the talents available, Ghana is not far from building a 2006-2010 Black Stars' es-que foundation.

This, when archived, would yield more success for Ghana than the calls for the team to be built around Mohammed Kudus.


EE/NOQ